Last week’s publication of Alexis Jay’s report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham revealed that 1,400 children had been abused over 16 years, predominantly by men of Pakistani origin.
However, as long ago as 2002, a researcher on a Home Office project submitted a report with many of the same findings, but it was never published. Here, for the first time, are edited extracts from that report:
The researcher cross-referenced data from the police and councils, and profiles showed that the men linked to most of the girls were members of one British-Asian family.
In October 2001, 54 girls had been linked to the family. Eighteen identified one member as their “boyfriend”. Several had become pregnant and he was the suspected father.
Taxis were thought to be used to targetgirls and to take them to houses and towns for prostitution.
Advertisement
Takeaways had been used as locations where girls were targeted. They had also been collected from schools, residential homes, homeless projects and stations.
The researcher examined ten case studies. All but one had been “courted” by the suspected abusers, taken for meals and persuaded to have sex. All received threats.
In two cases, police officers had responded to missing-person reports but left the girls with the suspected abuser.
Police had acted on missing-person reports reluctantly. Some girls had been threatened with prosecution for wasting police time, and were treated as promiscuous.
Some professionals did not share information with police. Some officers said that if the girls would not help themselves by giving evidence no action would be taken.
Advertisement
Responsibility was placed on the girls’ shoulders, rather than the abusers’. There was also resistance to a change in policy.
When data was sent to the Home Office evaluation team, suggestions were made that the research was flawed, and that facts had been fabricated or exaggerated.